San Diego on Friday became the latest in a cadre of California cities turning their backs on red-light cameras — aloof intersection sentries that have prompted $490 tickets to be mailed to 20,000 motorists per year here.

Mayor Bob Filner announced his decision to take down the city’s 21 cameras at a news conference set at the most prolific intersection for the tickets, North Harbor Drive and West Grape Street, near San Diego International Airport.

A crew went to work immediately taking down “photo enforced” signs throughout the city.

“Seems to me that such a program can only be justified if there are demonstrable facts that prove that they raise the safety awareness and decrease accidents in our city,” Filner said of the cameras. “The data, in fact, does not really prove it.”

Bicycle and pedestrian groups immediately raised safety concerns about the end of the program. Still, Filner called it the San Diego version of a traffic trap, and said he would rather have the four officers who were reviewing the camera’s photos back on the streets interacting directly with motorists.

“It just seemed to me that the hostility toward them (the cameras) bred more disrespect for the law than respect for the law,” Filner said, adding that many members of the public felt the program was only about making the city money.

The mayor’s action followed through on a campaign promise made last fall in response to a question from The Watchdog, which surveyed candidates about the program.

Friday was the first day the city’s red light camera program has halted since 2001, when it was shut down for a year to evaluate its effectiveness amid public outcries and lawsuits.

Nearly 200,000 tickets carrying fines in the tens of millions of dollars have been issued since the cameras were turned on in August 1998.

After the county and the state took their share of fine revenue, the city received about $1.9 million for the tickets in fiscal year 2011. The city kept about $200,000 after paying the officers who issued the tickets, a camera vendor and other costs.

Filner said Harbor and Grape in particular was an example of why the camera program needed to go, because because many of its tickets went to tourists — something The Watchdog reported in June 2012.

“Here’s the welcome that we give to San Diego,” Filner said. “Here’s a $500 fine. I don’t think that’s the way to tell visitors, ‘thank you for coming to San Diego.’”

The program’s stated purpose was to reduce accidents, but a 2002 audit of the camera program found the Harbor and Grape intersection had so few accidents that the city should move its cameras elsewhere. The city did not follow through on that recommendation, and The Watchdog found a decade later there have been no accidents since 2001 at the intersection, according to the state’s accident database and the San Diego Police Department.

The city’s transportation department said the cameras at Harbor and Grape were there to encourage drivers to stop obstructing the notoriously-gridlocked intersection. Several readers have told The Watchdog they are concerned gridlock will get worse when the cameras come down.

Two community groups supporting pedestrians and bicyclists also expressed concern with Filner’s decision.

Kevin C. Wood, chair of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, said 97 percent of drivers ticketed under the program never received a second violation.

“Many improvements in infrastructure and enforcement are necessary to make San Diego safer for cycling and eliminating this program would only make it worse,” Wood said in a prepared statement. “We must do everything possible to change driver behavior so all people can feel comfortable riding our streets.”

Kathleen Ferrier, policy manager with Walk San Diego, said she was dismayed Filner did not reference studies that have shown San Diego’s program has reduced red light running and accidents.

“We’re really concerned that this program has been eliminated. These cameras have actually been shown to improve safety,” Ferrier said. “There was a lot of emphasis today in the mayor’s speech about safety, but there was no mention of the fact that these cameras have been proven to improve safety for all traffic users.”

San Diego joins a long list of Southern California cities that have ended their red light programs. Most recently, voters in Murrieta ended their program by ballot, banning the cameras from their city. Other cities that have turned off their cameras include Los Angeles, San Juan Capistrano, Pasadena, Grand Terrace, Bell Gardens, Corona and Glendale.

San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne, who spoke after Filner made his announcement, said he and the mayor looked to those cities for guidance on what to do with San Diego’s program.

“The most effective way to create safety in traffic is focusing on the enforcement aspect and the education aspect and these officers provide that,” Lansdowne said, motioning to several department motorcycle officers also in attendance at the announcement.

City Councilman Kevin Faulconer said he supports the mayor’s decision.

“Red light cameras haven’t produced the public safety improvements the city expected,” Faulconer said in a statement. “I agree with the Mayor that now is the time to take the cameras down.”

Filner said the tickets that were issued before the program was shut down will be processed normally through the court system. He also said the loss of revenue for the city will not lead to any city employees losing their jobs.